TRAWL CAUGHT SHRIMP in the SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BIGHT : a Guide to Field and Laboratory Identification
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TRAWL CAUGHT SHRIMP IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BIGHT : a guide to field and laboratory identification Donald B. Cadien, CSDLAC, 3 April 1998 Because they are prominent in many trawl catches several comprehensive regional treatments of shrimp exist. The most pertinent are Schmitt (1921), Word and Charwat (1976) and Butler (1980). Each of these had a slightly different focus, and none is adequate for all the shrimp recorded from the Southern California Bight. Martin & Zimmerman (1997) cover the northern portion of the Santa Barbara Channel, but treat only eleven species. Butler provides the most extended descriptions of the species covered, but treats the fauna of the Pacific Northwest and lacks many southern species. Word and Charwat focussed on the Bight, using the same sort of monitoring records we currently do. Nomenclatural changes have reduced the utility of their treatment, and although nearly all species are keyed, little supporting description is supplied. Schmitt likewise offers little detail in his descriptions of the species. Taxonomic changes have rendered many of his names obsolete as well. SCAMIT Taxonomic List Ed. 3 will provide the synonymies which allow older usages like Schmitt’s to be related to current usage. Other resources are available for particular groups, especially the series of papers by Wicksten dealing with southern California families, genera, or species (Wicksten 1976, 1977, 1978a, b; 1979; 1980; 1981; 1983a; b; 1984; 1986; 1989a, b; 1990a, b; 1991, 1992, 1996a, b; Wicksten & Butler 1983; Wicksten & Hendrickx 1991). Live appearance of many shrimp is documented by color photographs in Jensen 1995. Butler 1980 gives color drawings of many species from depths inaccessible to diving photographers. Species which are normally found to the south, but have made incursions into the Southern California Bight during the current strong ENSO event require additional references (Chace 1937; Hendrickx 1990, 1995, 1996; Hendrickx & Navarrete 1996; Hendrickx & Wicksten 1989). Because such a variety of information sources is available on this group, the necessity of precalibration of trawl shrimp identification in the Bight ‘98 regional sampling effort is great. With that goal in mind, new keys to shrimps known from the Bight which can be identified in the field have been prepared where necessary. Members of the Alpheidae and the Hippolytidae do not easily lend themselves to field separation because of size and/or use of small or obscure character states in their identification. Members of these families should always be returned to the lab for identification. Other groups such as the Crangonidae may or may not be field separable depending on the experience and expertise of the observer. In such intermediate groups it is particularly important to recognize your own limitations. A good rule of thumb for deciding if specimens should be returned to the lab for further identification is "if you have ANY doubts as to the identity of the animals, they should be returned to the lab for confirmation." Not just a few representatives, BUT ALL SUSPECT SPECIMENS. Even in cases where the observer has no doubt as to the identity of the animals, vouchers must still be taken for lab confirmation. These should be collected by each individual who participates in the field identifications for each species they have identified. These requirements are not new, but they must be followed by all participants to avoid data compromise. If only one participant fails to identify, or identifies incorrectly, material which has been discarded prior to the discovery of the data deficiency, all data provided by other participants must be degraded to the level of the non-conforming group prior to analysis. This unfortunately occurred on several occasions during the 1994 regional monitoring effort, and the utility of resulting data was diminished. These concerns become even greater during Bight ‘98 because the number of groups involved is being increased, and along with the number of participants the possibilities for non-conformity. The following families of shrimp are known from historic records to have occurred in the Bight - Alpheidae, Aristaeidae, Crangonidae, Glyphocrangonidae, Hippolytidae, Luciferidae, Ogyrididae, Oplophoridae, Palaemonidae, Pandalidae, Pasiphaeidae, Penaeidae, Processidae, Sergestidae, Sicyoniidae, and Solenoceridae (less than half the 36 known families of shrimps). Of these sixteen families the Aristaeidae, Luciferidae, Oplophoridae, Pasiphaeidae and Sergestidae are all holopelagic shrimps and not part of the bottom trawl fauna. For those interested in these animals a list of species reported from our area and useful references for their identification are provided below. Aristaeidae Bentheogennema burkenroadi Krygier & Wasmer 1975 has been taken from the surface to 1000m depths Bentheogennema borealis (Rathbun 1902) seldom reaches depths as shallow as 200m. These two species are keyed, described, and illustrated in Butler 1980. Should you reach Aristaeidae in the Key to Shrimp Families you should consult Butler for further information. Luciferidae Lucifer typus H. Milne Edwards 1837 known from as far north as the middle of the Baja peninsula, this species may range into Bight waters on the northward ENSO flow. See Hendrickx & Navarrete 1996 Oplophoridae - Species of Acanthephyra, Systellaspis, and Hymenodora are known to range into our geographic coverage area, but all from deeper than our maximum depths. It is very unlikely that they will stray into our depth range. Although not yet reported from Californian waters, the genus Notostomus has been recorded as far south as Oregon (Butler 1980). Animals keying to Oplophoridae should be examined with Butler in hand. He provides both generic and specific keys to local species, as well as good illustrations and descriptions. Pasiphaeidae - most species listed in Word & Charwat and Hendrickx & Navarrete fall outside the geographic or bathymetric limits of our study area. Pasiphaea pacifica Rathbun 1902 known throughout the bight, but generally taken in deeper trawls, although may surface at night (0-1076m). See Butler 1980 Pasiphaea chacei Yaldwyn 1962 from off Baja California to off Oregon, generally deeper than 300 m. Given the dislocations caused by the ENSO event, these are probably all below our depth range at this time. We should be aware of the characters to check to distinguish this from P. pacifica. See keys in Word & Charwat 1976 and Hendrickx & Navarrete 1996. Sergestidae - Species in the genus Sergia, while taken from the surface to over 1000m depth, are from oceanic water masses found outside the Bight in the Eastern Pacific, and are not considered here. The single reported species of the genus Petalidium to occur off southern California is similarly oceanic, and not recorded from inshore waters of the Bight. Both genera are covered by Hendrickx & Navarrete 1996, who provide a key to the genera as well. Sergestes similis Hanson 1903 ranges from the Gulf of California to the Gulf of Alaska and from the surface to 1200 m - the only member of the genus to occur in inshore waters of the Bight. Other species may occur further offshore in the California Current or beyond (see Hendrickx & Navarrete 1996). The species is well described and illustrated by Butler 1980. Of the remaining 11 families known from the area three are penaeoids (Solenoceridae, Sicyoniidae, and Penaeidae) all at one time considered to be subfamilies within the Penaeidae. If additional information on penaeoid biology or morphology is desired consult Dall et al (1990). A separate key is provided for benthic members of these families known to occur within the Bight plus a very similar species not yet known from the area (see attached key). The eight benthic families of caridoid shrimp known from Southern California waters are all included in the family key. All members of the Glyphocrangonidae occur too deep to fall within our coverage. Distributional records are provided by Wicksten (1979), and a good illustrated key by Hendrickx (1995). All local members of the family Ogyrididae occur too shallowly to fall within our coverage. Although Ogyrides alphaerostris was reported from the area by Wicksten & Hendrickx (1991), the local species is still undescribed. Information on it should be sought from Jim Roney (LACEMD), who is in the process of describing these shrimp. We will probably see these small burrowing shrimp in our shallowest benthic samples, but not in our trawls. Two of the six remaining families (Processidae and Palaemonidae) are represented by only a few species. The Processidae have only two local representatives, Ambidexter panamensis and Processa peruviana. Ambidexter has been reported only from shallow water in San Diego Bay, where it is taken both in infaunal samples and in seines. It is apparently a burrowing species, and may only be taken during night or crepuscular samplings over mud/algal bottoms. Given the dearth of records, the population in the bay may be quite localized. Abele (1972) describes the animal. If shallow water samples are taken in San Diego Bay we might get this species. Processa peruviana has only been taken once in local waters; off Palos Verdes in 1995. This animal is larger than A. panamensis, and was taken in the open sea, not in a bay, where it favors fine sand bottoms (Hendrickx 1995). It was taken at night, and may also be a burrower. Wicksten’s original description (1983), supplemented by information in Hendrickx (1995), should allow identification of further specimens. Hendrickx also provides a key to separate these two genera. The normal range of the animal extends only as far north as the tip of Baja California, so occurrence in our area is undoubtedly related to ENSO transport. Local Palaemonidae can be adequately field separated with the key of Word & Charwat (1976), which covers all species recorded to date. If you reach Palaemonidae in the family key, consult the above key. Members of the genus Palaemon occur only in shallow estuarine areas such as Huntington Harbor. Although an indigenous species exists (Palaemon ritteri), all recently caught Palaemon have been the introduced P.